Inner Darkness
by Silverterror
Summary: Jess fights his inner demon literally to overcome the death of his friend Leslie. One-shot. Rated M for brief language and blood.


A/N: I know I haven't updated any of my stories for nearly two years. I have a legitimate reason though, 1), I haven't had the time. 2) My life's been chaotic for numerous reasons. And 3), a recent chapter for Sent Back I was writing got deleted when my computer was swarmed by a nasty Trojan. (Dang those annoying unnecessary pop up ads that say 'You Win!', ah, oh well.) Anyway, to make up for the extended hiatus I'm posting this quick one-shot. I hope you enjoy this fanfic. Constructive criticism and comments are welcomed. Please, review.

-Isaac

Inner Darkness

By Silverterror

It had been five years to the day…five years since the worst day of his life. The memory still clung to his thoughts like a parasite clings to a dog when no one notices. The darkness within him threatened to consume him like a forest fire. His name was Jesse Oliver Aarons, Jr. People called him Jess even to this day. The thoughts were always the worst on this date. He thought back to when he first heard the news of her death.

"_Your friend Leslie's dead," Jack said with a serious, yet sad look on his face. He knew that it would be difficult telling his son the news of his friend's death, but he knew it must be done._

_Jess's initial reaction to the words was the expected denial. "No you're lying, she's not even dead!" He_ _ran out through the back of the house refusing to believe his angel was dead._

"Leslie…" Jess said sadly. He regretted not being able to save her from her untimely death. If he could go back in time and save her, he would. But unfortunately, the only thing he could do was move on. That was harder then it sounded to him. So he refused to let Leslie go and foolishly believed he could bring her back. A tear fell from his eye and hit the ground. He was holding a beer in his hand that he had taken from his dad while he was in the other room. And he drunk it knowing he would later regret making the choice.

After he had finished he decided to sleep, that way, if he had a hangover in the morning, it wouldn't be as bad.

* * *

Jess saw a warrior draped in dark robes with a hood covering his face. He knew almost immediately that it wasn't the Dark Master, but someone more…familiar. The warrior made his way the kingdom of Terabithia and killed one of the guards by slashing his throat open with a blade that was sticking out of his arm. The terabithian bled, and the blood rushed down onto his armor. He used his hand to try to stop the bleeding but he fell down dead dying in a pool of his own blood that quickly spreaded.

Jess could almost sense the warrior's smile as he slay the guard. The warrior used a blade that came out of his other arm to impale the other guard in the stomach causing his blood to splatter all over. The warrior then infiltrated the castle by knocking down the door. Once inside, he killed dozens of terabithians and made his way to the time chamber.

"At last," He exclaimed, "I will reverse time and bring back my queen from the dead! And all will be restored!" The warrior uttered a chant. "_Timus Reverus!" _A flash filled the room and a few seconds later the warrior was gone.

* * *

Jess awoke with a startle from the nightmare he had just had. Luckily enough, his head felt just fine. But as for his mind, he was frightened. Jess decided it best to just try to ignore his dream and move on with his day. He blamed himself for Leslie's death, wishing he could change fate. He had an idea! The dream reminded him of the time chamber…now if he used the magic that he had been taught, he could go back to the day Leslie drowned and save her from her fate.

Jess remembered however something he had learned in his research in the books at the library he read. Altering fate had potential paradoxes that could be caused by time travel. He decided it best to not go through with his plan. Jess stood up and didn't get to far when something weird started to happen. The sky around him turned gray. He heard somebody walking through the trees. Jess imagined himself in his king armor. He looked down and saw the handle of his sword. With the blade out of the sheath he said, "Show yourself!"

A dark figure walked out from the trees. He matched whom Jess had seen in his dream. "No." He thought he was hallucinating. What he saw before him could not be real. Jess raised his sword. "You can't be real! You're only a figment of my imagination."

The warrior laughed. "Jess, you should know that anything you think can become real. I'm just as much as real as you are!"

Jess walked slowly over to the warrior, he had to time his move just right or otherwise it could cause him his life. He threw a swing of his blade, but the warrior was quick. He pushed Jess back and lunged his blade forward. Jess dodged to the left barely living. The warrior turned in time to defend himself against another one of Jess's attacks. "Is that the best you can do, Aarons? You're weaker than I thought."

Jess replied, "You're wrong!" He removed one of his hands off the handle of his sword and hit the warrior in the nose sending him back far enough for Jess to finish him off. "Fuck," the warrior cursed as he covered his nose. The hood on his head fell back to reveal his identity.

Jess was about to kill him when he saw his face. "No…" Jess was dumbfounded, realizing he had failed to notice who it was he battling earlier.

The warrior wiped the blood from his face. "Yes, get a good luck at me…or should I say…You!" The warrior was in fact the dark side of Jess; the opposite of everything his good half was with all the dark emotions. His face was dark and he had solid black eyes with no irises.

"Let's finish this," the warrior said.

Jess walked over to him and with a move of his arms collided his blade with that of his enemy. They got face to face. "You were planning on trying to reverse fate weren't you?"

"Damn straight, I was!" The warrior admitted, "Leslie must live, we can't just leave her for dead, Jess. Don't you care about her!?" The warrior was full of anger at the fact that Jess refused to save Leslie. He decided that if he wouldn't, then he would force his light half to do so. For it was the only thing that made sense to him. Those who are in darkness over time become more and more corrupted until there is no longer any good in them left. Their minds become clouded with false judgment and they are unable to think clearly. This was particularly true in the warrior's case.

"Yes, I do," Jess replied, knowing that although he desperately wanted Leslie back, it wasn't possible. "If you do this you could be endangering billions of lives! Does that not matter to you?" He had knowledge of what the warrior was going through, but he also knew that Leslie had to remain dead, regardless of how he felt.

The warrior grunted angrily, seeing that Jess was being futile in his opinion. "You foolish idiot! Leslie must live; she is the queen of Terabithia! She's the one you love!" His hatred for his light half fueled until it was uncontrollable. He believed that Jess was being stupid, ignorant.

Jess felt bad for the warrior, but he had to stop him from making a horrible mistake. "I do love her! But I can't let you harm anymore innocents!" Jess spoke the truth and meant it.

"So be it!" said the warrior. He raised his sword and ran over to Jess. Jess brought his sword into a defensive pose hitting his blade against the warriors'.

"You don't have to do this!" said Jess. "Leslie may be dead, but you have to move on." Jess was not about to let the warrior make a mistake he would forever regret. He knew what it was like to lose someone close. But that gave the warrior no right to tamper with fate. Jess decided he would stop him here and now.

"Jess, you are unwise in your rhetoric. You will not be able to persuade me so easily!" The warrior was furious and wouldn't be tricked into doing anything he considered dull. He had come too far to be swayed from what he was trying to accomplish. With a fast turn of his sword he managed to move both his and Jess's blade. He kicked Jess who fell backwards onto the ground.

When the warrior was in the killing stance a bright blinding light flashed and he covered his eyes. Jess looked over to the light and after a moment he saw the face of the person who had caused it dropping his jaw. It was Leslie. "Leslie, is it really you?" He stood up in disbelief and walked over to her.

Leslie smiled, replying, "Yes, Jess, it's me."

Jess threw his arms around the girl he loved breaking into tears. He blamed himself for Leslie's death wishing it had never happened. "I'm sorry, Les," Jess said looking into her eyes. "It's my fault your dead. If only I had stayed then perhaps you'd still be alive." He believed what he said was the truth in all honesty. He just couldn't think otherwise that he wasn't responsible for Leslie's death.

"Jess, it's not your fault. It was simply my time to go, I'm sorry for the pain it's caused you though…" Leslie frowned regretting that she couldn't stay long. She would soon have to return to heaven. First, she would help Jess overcome his pain and loss, for she couldn't bear to see him suffer.

"The pain I have is of my own doing. I brought this upon myself…" The warrior stood up and looked over to Leslie.

"No…" the warrior said, "Impossible, my queen. Get away from her my pathetic light half!" He wasn't about to let Jess be near Leslie. He ran over to him, brought out his second blade from his other arm. Leslie saw the attack in time to prevent it however.

"Jess, look out!" Jess turned around and blocked the blades in time. He pushed his sword forward and punched the warrior in the nose causing blood to gush from his nose and from his teeth down onto his chin. The warrior fell to the ground, backing away like the coward he was. He brought the blade on his right arm up to try to defend himself. Unfortunately for him, however, Jess was quicker. He used his sword to cut off his arm. The warrior screamed as a shower of his own blood splattered decorating everything it touched red. He got to his knees and tried once again to no avail to defeat his opponent.

Jess cut his left arm off and blood from the warrior's arm went onto his clothing. The warrior screamed and pleaded for his life. "I beg you, spare me!"

"No chance of that happening!" With one swing of his sword Jess removed the warrior's head from his body and both landed in a pile of unmentionable horror. Jess looked around; the field of Terabithia was stained with the blood of his enemy. But to him it was worth it. He turned back to Leslie and walked over to her.

He kissed her on the lips and asked, "Les, stay with me. We'll figure a way out how to bring you back into this world." A tear fell from Jess's eye; Leslie wiped it away and returned the kiss.

"I'm sorry Jess, I have to go…but remember I'm always watching over you." A tear to fell from Leslie's eye. She didn't desire to leave him, but knew she must.

Jess once again kissed her and for a moment they stood under the trees of Terabithia not worrying what would happen. When their lips parted, Jess said, "I love you, Leslie."

"I love you, too, Jess." Leslie disappeared before him.

"Good bye my love," Jess said, smiling. He looked up to the sky; he could hear Leslie speak to him.

"_I'll be watching over you…"_

THE

END

A/N: I hope the story was good. Of course, it's your opinion that counts. So, please, review.


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